the Dark of Moon
by Saga Byakuya
Summary: Ariána is a new student in Hogwarts. She has secrets that have to remain hidden but one full moon is to change her entire life. Love life isn't easy when you try to protect something so sacred you would kill to keep it safe. Marauders along with OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, this is my first long story in English (I'm not a native speaker) so don't eat me if there are some errors in grammar or wrong words. Please let me know if you find any, I'd be happy to correct them. Then warnings about this text, this will include sexual situations, some will be pretty hardcore, there will be violence, use of language and incredible amount of wolves and pack hierarchy both in wolf forms and in human forms. Some of it might be similar to BDSM or pedofilia. And this is NOT a slash story, if you are here and waiting for slash you might as well stop reading because there will be absolutely nothing, not even hints of slash between main characters. But, I hope you like this story and please be free to review.**

**1.**

The girl held her trolley staring at the solid brick wall in front of her with blazing eyes. Her name was Ariána Cherry and she was very unhappy with the situation she was currently in. The start of her summer was wonderfully nothing unusual; she had been enjoying calm and warm weather and touch of the summer rain against her fair skin and planning a summer holiday trip to Italy to visit her _papa_'s side of the family. Then, couple of weeks ago, her family had dropped a bomb; they had enrolled her into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to complete her magical education along with other children in the Wizarding World. Ariána was not happy with her parents' decision they made in her stead, forcing her to attend Hogwarts only for her seventh and final year, which as far as Ariána was concerned, was never a good thing. Even now, Ariána could remember her father and mother's expressions and tones when they exclaimed the so-called happy news to their only daughter.

"_Ariána," Conall Cherry, Ariána's father, said in a lazy drawl. Rina just shot a bored gaze to him crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture noting quite happily the tightening of his father's eyes in response the her behaviour. Ariána's mother, Maisie, sat comfortably in a wicker chair leaning against her palms in a way Ariána hated passionately. _

"_We have sensational news for you, dearest!" Maisie said in a voice shaking with joy and Ariána furrowed her brow warily. Her eyes, as grey as iron, glanced towards her mother's stomach area. No, she was not with child – at least visibly, so she would not be having a sibling. Beyond that, Ariána had no idea what her parents might be telling her. _

_Mr. and Mrs. Cherry exchanged a look of disappointment. It was clear they had been waiting their only daughter to be excited. _

"_We have come to a decision that you are not to study magic at home anymore."_

"_What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ariána demanded. She was starting to have bad feelings about the direction this conversation was heading. That could not mean what she thought it meant, could it._

"_Your father and I have owled professor Albus Dumbledore." Ariána just stared her parents with empty eyes._

"_We have reached an agreement that you are to complete your Wizarding education at much respected school in here in the Great Britain; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Dumbledore is a Headmaster there." Maisie beamed at her daughter. "I would say that Hogwarts is one of the best Wizarding schools in the entire world, dearie."_

_Ariána tried to open up her mouth to disagree but her joyous parents did not give her a single chance._

"_The semester begins on September first and we have already bought you a train ticket." Something in Maisie Cherry's voice told Ariána the conversation was over and it was better just remain silent and surrender. _

Moan escaped Ariána's lips before she could prevent it. She had hated passionately the mere thought about common school and have not still found enough strength to actually embrace the idea. She just couldn't see the point behind it, going into a school only for one last year doomed to be the new girl in webs of deep-forged webs of friendships. Besides, Ariána had a premonition she was going to be the one to stare, one to disregard, one to call weird. She was certain she was not going to make any friends. Sighing deep, she pushed one streak of bluish black hair behind her ear and away from her heart shaped face.

She uttered an angry mutter and violently pulled her trolley toward the platform nine and three quarters. After sliding through the solid brick wall, she glared death to the view in front of her. She did not want to be here. The platform itself was a majestic view and started to lessen the anger that raged inside Ariána. She just could not keep being angry at anyone for any reason when she was looking upon a view like that was staring right into her face. A startlingly red train was covering the whole of the platform area with a silverly smoke cloud that seemed to tickle her lungs with every breath. Platform was crowded with people dragging trolleys similar to Ariána's and a quick peek at the clock told her it was time to hurry up if she wanted to catch the train on time. For a moment she felt tempted by the idea of missing the Hogwarts Express (as the plate on the top of the platform so gladly told her) but after a while she shrugged the thought off and walked towards the train thinking of the rage her parents would show their beloved daughter if she dared to miss the train.

She have not got far when she kicked a stone in her childish fit of sudden rage and stood terrified watching as the stone hit back of the head of the complete stranger. Ariána slammed her hands over her mouth in complete shock. She has not meant to do that!

"Oh fuck, _fuck_, I am so sorry!" she kept whispering as the person hit by her stone turned around gently massaging the back of his head. Ariána just kept staring. She has not meant to hurt anyone. Moreover, definitely not a person who, according to his appearance, seemed to be a student himself.

The boy she had hit with the stone turned round and look straight at Ariána's desperate grey eyes that begged forgiveness. She was so terrified of her actions that she totally missed the laughter in the boy's green eyes. Ariána was on the edge of tears when the boy she had hit tilted his head and gave a small though pained smile.

"That's okay," he said in a stable voice that had an edge of pain. That only made Ariána feel worse and she hid behind her hair to escape from the uncomfortable moment. An embarrassed blush made her cheeks hot as she shyly peeked through the veil of her black hair, only to see her male companion still rubbing the back of his head.

"I assume it was not as okay as you claim as you are still rubbing the back of your head." Ariána smiled.

The boy with hair of the colour of a wheat field startled and sighed a surprised _'oh'_ before lowering his hand. Ariána blushed even harder.

"I seriously did not mean to hit you," she muttered, still ashamed.

"Somehow I managed to figure that out," the boy smiled. His green eyes glistened with laughter as Ariána peeked through her hair.

Ashamed smile stretched her lips as the boy squinted.

"I'm Remus by the way."

Ariána did not have an opportunity to return the favour and introduce herself as the train whistled to mark the time to get aboard. Remus waved his hand before disappearing into the train, leaving Ariána alone with her trunk and trolley to find an empty place in the train on her own.

She dragged her trolley along the train, trying to find an empty spot for her to sit down for the journey. She However, she soon had to accept that there was no empty space in the train, every seat were occupied for most parts and she did not have any desire to intrude anyone's compartment if she had other choices. When Ariána watched happy, laughing faces of the students, she suddenly felt a sting in her heart, indicating that she felt oddly out of place and like an intruder for their privacy. She swallowed hot tears that tried to start rolling down her cheeks and resisted the immense urge to hide her face in her hands and just go away. She was certain that she had no chance at all to make friends with anyone, they had their own friendships and Ariána thought she had no right to ask for friendship... from anyone.

The sound of compartment door sliding open was enough to tear Ariána's attention of her miserable thoughts and the girl lifted her gaze warily. A shocked hiss escaped from between her lips when she realized she was looking straight into a very familiar pair of green eyes right in front of her face. She felt unable to breathe as she recognized Remus and prepared to flee.

Remus rubbed his head and grunted. 'I was just wondering if you would like to come to our compartment. Everywhere else is full, I think, and we are happy to give you a seat.' Remus smiled shyly as he noticed how black haired girl startled at his question and failed completely in her trying to cover it. Slight incline of head told Remus that the girl was at least considering his offer.

"This might be your best chance to find a seat that is at least quite calm and quiet,' he smirked. 'Unless you are frightened of four seventeen-year-old Gryffindors."

Remus saw how girl's eyes blazed in displeasure of Remus' words. She clearly did not like what Remus was hinting with his words. Girl lifted her shoulders in a way Remus knew was definitely pride and she shook her hair away from her face before she nodded sharply.

"Fine", she snapped and stared Remus hard, clearly waiting him either to step aside or to guide her into their compartment.

Remus snorted and moved back in to the compartment and sat back onto his seat. A moan escaped from his lips when he saw Sirius' mischievous wink he cast to the girl before patting the bench next to him. Remus concealed his next moan. He would have told Sirius not to try to flirt with the new girl if she had not already joined them in the compartment. Now he just thought it was best to keep his mouth shut and just wait and see how the situation would advance. Maybe Sirius would not do anything inappropriate. A small part of his mind did though think that it would be wiser to open his mouth and say at least something, Sirius was his friend and Remus feared he would go a bit too far with his flirting and he did not actually want to scare the new girl off before they could talk to her and try to get to know her.

The mentioned new girl appeared to be standing in the compartment, looking a bit lost before Sirius got up and helped her lift her trunk up to the shelf over their benches. She sat on the bench opposite to Remus and Sirius immediately took advantage of that. He sat next to her and threw his arm casually around her shoulders ignoring the killing look she gave him. Remus had to fight off his laughter.

"I'm Sirius Black," Sirius said casually and Remus hid behind his hands. Sirius managed to make a simple introduction sound like flirting – it probably was flirting or at least Sirius meant it to be. A look in girl's eyes told Remus she had figured it out also. She did not say anything but gave Sirius an uneasy smile. Then the girl gave Remus the biggest shock so far.

"Ariána." Her answer was casual, nothing flirtatious there and Remus could see Sirius noticed it too. Remus decided to give Ariána a way to escape.

"If you find his behaviour disturbing you can always come here. I promise not to flirt." The only response he got was just a pretty smile and a shake of head. Remus hid his disappointment.

"Haven't seen you before," Remus murmured and had to fight a giggle that wanted to escape from his lips when he saw Sirius' mournful look. Sirius clearly did not like when Ariána was not paying all her attention to him.

Ariána smiled although the smile did look a bit strained to Remus. "My parents decided to send me to Hogwarts to complete my studies amongst the other children of Wizarding World."

Remus saw the suppressed anger beneath her smile that never left her face. She clearly had not told them everything but Remus knew better than to push. She would tell them when she was ready – and if she chose not to tell them it was her choice and Remus would be okay with it. She did have her own life and it clearly was not Remus' business if something was going on there.

"Sirius and I have already introduced ourselves but these others haven't. This is James," messy haired boy waved from his seat next to the window, "and this is Peter." A mousey little boy smiled at Ariána and avoided looking at her eyes.

"And you are all... Gryffindors?" Her hesitation with the last word told Remus she was not familiar with different Houses and he decided to tell her something before his friends could have the opportunity to pass their prejudices on to her.

"Yes. There are in total four Houses in Hogwarts. We are Gryffindors and belong to the Gryffindor House. Other three are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Every House has their own characteristics and students are Sorted into Houses depending on those characteristics. Basically every House is the same but there are some prejudices and some people think one House tends to be better than another and there are some rivalries but I think they are just stupid." Remus smiled. "I'm not actually the right person to describe the Houses. You should talk to professor McGonagall, she's the Head of Gryffindor House and the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. She's the one dealing with the Sorting ceremony."

Ariána nodded and turned to gaze outside. Remus smiled when she said sharp "don't touch me!" to Sirius and the boy moved away and started sulking. Remus suppressed a laughter and said: "Stop pouting" to Sirius ignoring the tongue he stuck out to Remus. Maybe someday Sirius would learn that not every woman in this world wanted to date him.

After a while Sirius and James started discussing about Quidditch and Peter, Ariána and Remus sat quietly gazing from the window until the express reached Hogsmeade station and was time to get off the train and travel to Hogwarts by horseless carriages. Remus was rewarded with a shy smile when he helped Ariána with her trunk. He responded with a nod and then headed to their carriage and noticed Ariána was not joining them. He sighed and turned to stare death at Sirius.

"You couldn't help yourself, could you?" Everyone knew what he meant and Sirius blushed in the dark cocoon of shadows inside the carriage.


	2. Chapter 2

**It really seems like I can't help working with this one. I have plenty of other stories to write but this one just keeps popping up in my head screaming for attention. I just like this story too much to let it be and that means I will hopefully update this more often than I first thought. Yeah, I know, Ariána is a bitch sometimes but this is just a beginning. She's not an easy character to write - partly because she is so much like me. I hope you like this chapter and feel free to review or point any errors you manage to find. It will be my pleasure to make this story as enjoyable as possible.**

**2****.**

Remus leaned on his palms while staring at the high table without actually seeing anything. Professor McGonagall was absent from the table and Remus knew she would be preparing the first years students for the Sorting. The three-legged stool stood on its usual place in the front of the Great Hall and the Sorting Hat was already in its position, waiting. Remus was waiting curiously the Sorting ceremony to start, he always wanted to know the Houses of new students but his friends did their best to ignore the ceremony until the point where Headmaster Dumbledore would make his speech of the Starting Feast. Remus was staring forward but he still heard every words his friends were saying next to him although he did his best not to hear them.

"I think we should show Snivellus who's the boss this year, it's already about time we did that," Sirius murmured in a voice so full of loathing Remus barely recognized it. "We could take my useless brother at the same time."

Remus sighed. He had never understood the rage and hatred Sirius harboured towards his brother Regulus and his family. To Remus family mattered and sometimes he thought that Sirius despised his family just because they happened to exist. Of course, when Remus asked about the rage Sirius felt towards his family, his friend would tell him a collection of reasons to hate the Black family but for Remus, they seemed to be just excuses.

"This is our final year and it's about time we think of something that will give the future generations something to remember the Marauders," Sirius smiled and James next to him returned that smile back to his friend. Peter however, seemed to be looking around the Great Hall probably looking for something with a slightly dazed look in his eyes. Remus sighed. If he was smart and responsible, he would step forward now and stop his friends from doing something they all would probable regret greatly afterwards. But he did nothing. He liked his friends too much to stop them from doing what they wanted, or at least he did most of the time. Only times he intervened were those moments his friends were about to do something very dangerous and completely reckless. Still, sometimes he thought whether Headmaster Dumbledore had made an error making him a Prefect. He knew he was supposed to keep his fellow Marauders in control and prevent them from getting so many detentions with almost every teacher in the school. Needless to say, Remus often failed with that task – but only because he was a marauder also and held his friends in high regard.

"Sirius..." Remus started but swallowed his words when the mentioned man turned his blazing grey gaze to the werewolf next to him. Remus grunted as his words were stuck in his throat. He hated it when Sirius managed to silence him so easily when he tried to be the Marauders' voice of conscious. "Crap," he moaned before turning his attention away.

"For six year Slytherins have been a thorn in our side and we could pay it back by setting a few well-thought traps," James said. Remus suppressed a moan when he noticed how his friend ruffled his already messy hair and made it look like he had just came from Quidditch practise. He did not miss the glances his friend shot to the direction of Lily Evans.

"We also need to remember that my brainless brat of a brother is good at charms. We don't want him to mess our whole plan up. We need to find a new spell or combine old spells in a new way so Regulus won't figure them out. And potions are out of option because of Snivellus."

Remus moaned when he turned his attention completely away from his friends and focused on the Sorting Hat and the Sorting ceremony that would be taking place at any moment now. His green eyes focused on the high table even as the doors of the Great Hall opened and first year students came in, led by professor McGonagall. He smiled when he noticed a figure too tall to be a first year. Ariána. He also saw how many older students followed Ariána with their gazes. That was to be expected, she was a new student after all and that always caused some kind of a fuss.

His keen werewolf hearing caught some distorted pieces of conversations.

"_Who is she?"  
"Never seen her before."_

Remus smiled but regained his attention when professor McGonagall stopped beside the three-legged stool and took a roll of parchment explaining the proceeding of the Sorting ceremony. Sirius yawned when Sorting Hat sang its song and Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius was completely impossible! He smiled widely when Sirius shifted restlessly and tried to find a comfortable position on his bench. He tried to lean on Remus's shoulder but he pushed Sirius gently away and shook his head.

"Focus, Sirius," Remus hissed and deserved a good long annoyed stare from his best friend.

"I'm not you, Moony, I'm not interested in what teachers are mumbling."

Remus snorted. "Yeah, and that could be the reason why I'm so good at school whereas you sit in detentions."

Now it was Sirius's turn to snort. "Don't try to lie to yourself, Remus. You're sitting detentions, too."

Remus smirked. "I'm not denying that. But my point was that I serve _fewer _detentions than you guys."

Hat had stopped its song and the Sorting could begin. Professor McGonagall called students forth and put the Hat on their heads. Remus found himself holding his breath nervously. He was a bit surprised when Ariána's name was not the first one as he had thought it would be according to her being older than rest of those being Sorted tonight but she was called forward when the alphabetical order reached her family's name.

"Cherry, Ariána!"

Ariána looked like she almost moaned when she stepped forward. She stepped obediently forth and walked towards the stool and the Hat and allowed professor McGonagall lower the Hat on her head. The Hat seemed to make its decision almost before it touched her black hair.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Professor McGonagall took the Hat, and Ariána moved to the Slytherin table and now the green and snake of the Slytherin House decorated her school robes. Remus could not help noticing the smug smile that curved her lips. He would be lying if he said he was not surprised of Ariána's new House. His reaction was however much better than Sirius's. Sirius seemed to be completely shocked over the fact that Ariána had turned out to be a Slytherin.

"A snake?" Sirius muttered. "How come it became _a snake_?"

James seemed to agree with his friend. "Gryffindor lion and noble red colours would have fitted her much better. Slytherin green makes her look pale."

"Green colour makes her look like a female Regulus," Sirius moaned. Remus had to suppress a moan again. His friends were so childish sometimes.

James squinted. "Female Snivellus actually."

Remus turned to look at Sirius just early enough to see him glaring at Ariána who sat happily at the Slytherin table and chatted happily with her Housemates. She received a bunch of congratulations and merry pats on her back and Remus soon found out he had to turn away as he felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. Sirius glared his brother more viciously than anyone other and Remus could hear a ferocious growl escaping from his friend's chest as Regulus Black hugged Ariána warmly. Pale and tight lipped Snape was sitting next to Regulus, smiling rather smugly and for a moment Remus hoped he could wipe that smile off his face. With a grunt he turned his eyes away before anyone could realize he was staring and focused on a plate in front of him.

The golden surface of the plate worked as a mirror, reflecting his scarred face and Remus shrugged in disgust. He hated ugly scars in his face, the curse that flowed through his veins making him into a beast he despised so much. His green eyes were confused and bright below his neatly combed brownish hair and a slight frown appeared on his brow. He missed the great part of Headmaster's speech but for once, he did not care at all. He was way too distracted to concentrate on anything right now. Ariána was in Slytherin? They had been so eager to get to know her that they kind of thought that of course she will be in Gryffindor like them. It was a shock to realize they had been wrong in their assumptions and that not everyone new and amiable was in their own House. Remus buried his face in his arms. He had a feeling they had just made themselves look like morons and he did not like that feeling.

o

Ariána had been confused the moment she stepped into the Great Hall. She had never seen anything like it before and nothing could have prepared her for such a glory. The Great Hall of Hogwarts was a magnificent piece of magic of architecture and just the sight of the roof astounded her. For the very first time she felt that, her parents had made the right decision when they had sent her here. This place was incredible! When she had walked among the first year students she had noticed Remus at one of the four tables. From the red lion badges in their robes she had figured it out these people were Gryffindors. The colours of other Houses had become clear to her when the Sorting had begun.

During the Sorting she had figured out what was going on with the Houses. People were put permanently in different groups which according to several hateful glances exchanged between the tables were not so closely in interaction with each other's. The she had been called in front of the others among those whose last name began with the letter C. That had been her own preference. Professor McGonagall had offered to have her Sorted before others because she was so much older than the first years but she had declined. She had not wanted any extra attention to herself so she had been just happy to be Sorted on her own turn between others.

Now, as she stared over the Hall from her seat with her new Housemates her gaze wandered to the Gryffindor table and found Remus. She realized how separate they were now. They belonged in the rival Houses and that diminished all interaction between them. Ariána was not even sure if four Gryffindors would still want to be her friends. She hoped so. However, green in her robes and the snake in her House badge, told clearly that they were profoundly different. She wanted to get to know her first friends here better but she was not sure if she could.

"Hi," said a voice from her left. When she turned to see who was addressing her she found herself looking into dark brown eyes of a young man, slightly taller than she was. His hair was straw blonde and touched lightly his ears. She smiled.

"Hi."

"Bartemius Crouch Junior," the man introduced himself and held his hand out. Ariána took it, shaking it lightly and said: "Ariána."

Bartemius smirked. "I know." He pulled her on her seat. She did not struggle against the pull but uttered a silent groan. She did not like to be pulled and pushed. She soon found herself entangled in conversations with her Housemates but she could not help glance once and a while towards the Gryffindor table.

"Something fanciful in Gryffindors?" another man asked in an amused voice. Ariána shot an icy glance at him.

"None of your business."

The man looked annoyed but remained silent. Ariána turned her back to him.

Headmaster Dumbledore stood up in the high table and that gesture gained the attention of everyone in the Great Hall.

"For those first time in Hogwarts, welcome, and for those returning for another year, welcome back. A new year is beginning – " Dumbledore started and with a roll of her eyes Ariána turned her attention away. Her grey gaze met black eyes of another Slytherin and they smiled. With a snort she turned her eyes away after a while. Her gaze swept over the Gryffindor table and to her amusement she noticed Remus and his friends were not paying attention to Headmaster's speech.

When the speech ended the House tables were filled with food and Bartemius who sat next to her leaned in to grab a bowl full of potatoes.

"So, you came here just for one year?" he asked in a conversational tone while he leaned in to next bowl, earning scolding looks from his neighbours.

"Yes," Ariána muttered, slightly annoyed. "_Papa _thought it would be best if I finish my studies here instead of being home schooled like before." She scowled. "He thought I should gain some contacts with people of my age." She emphasized the last word bitterly.

Bartemius snorted in amusement. "Yeah, tell me about it. My father wouldn't have kept me home even if he was paid." He smirked. "And I wouldn't have wanted to stay home in a world."

Ariána lifted her piece of chicken and smiled over it. "Disagreements, huh?"

"Ignorance, more likely." Bartemius snorted before he focused on his food, indicating that this conversation was over. Ariána was quite happy about it. She did not want to talk about her home.

Family was not one of her favourite subject of conversation. She was still angry at her parents for sending her here without her agreement. Her peace did not last long before she was interrupted again.

"Have you thought about what you want to do when you finish the school?" a girl from Ariána's right asked. Girl's hair was long and black as ink. Ariána smiled. She thought this new girl was pretty and she seemed to be nice enough. Girl smiled and then held her hand out to Ariána and said: "Lucinda. Lucinda Talkalot."

Ariána smiled. "Not actually. I guess my parents will decide it for me, probably even without consulting me first. I would not be surprised. They would want to see me in a respected position in the Wizarding World."

Lucinda smiled. "Sounds familiar. Pass on the pumpkin juice, would you?"

Ariána snorted in amusement but passed the pumpkin juice to Lucinda who thanked and filled her goblet.

"My parents would like to see me working in the Ministry but I think I'll make a career in Quidditch."

Ariána muttered something like "oh" but then focused on her food. Once and a while her iron grey eyes glanced towards the Gryffindor table as she tried to meet Remus's gaze but none of those Gryffindors lifted their eyes, not once. Sighing she moved to the dessert.

"What's your family like?" a new voice asked. Ariána glared at the man talking to her and had to fight to suppress a growl. The man who had talked to her did not flinch, he just held his hand out to her and said: "Evan." Ariána did not react. She just stared. Evan did not give up.

"These are Regulus, Avery, Mulciber, Macnair and Severus."

Ariána nodded to all of the introduced but left Evan's question remain unanswered. She sighed out of relief when the Headmaster started his speech again.

" – try-outs for Quidditch teams will be held in few weeks. If you wish to join the team of your House let your Head of House know at least a week before try-outs. No first years in teams, though. And caretaker Mr. Filch wants to remind us all that the list of forbidden artefacts can be found on the door of his office." For some reason Headmaster glared at the Gryffindor table and the four boys she had met earlier. "I also want to remind the first years and some older students that the Dark Forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden area."

Loud chatter erupted in the Great Hall, indicating that the Feast was over and students started to make their ways towards their common rooms. Ariána smiled widely as she followed her Housemates to the dungeons and waited as Lucinda said the password (_"Dark Lord"_) to a stone wall. Merrily chattering group of Slytherins flowed into the common room and Ariána took her way to the dormitories.

Yawning, she stepped into the dormitory she shared with Lucinda and couple of other girls and threw herself on her bed. Then she reached to get her quill from her school bag and began to write a letter to her parents.

_Mama, Papa,_

_I'm here in my dormitory with my fellow students. So far this is not as bad as I thought it would be, though I have already earned a status of a new, strange girl which is to be expected. I think you already know about four Houses and the Sorting. I was Sorted into Slytherin although I have recently no idea what it means – and I still think I would rather be at home studying. What can Hogwarts offer to me, I can learn all I need to learn at home with your kindest tutoring._

_Your loving daughter,_

_Ariána_

Ariána sighed to her letter. She had not yet forgiven her parents they sent her here. Despite her letter was short it was polite. There was nothing that would make her stop being polite, using the dances she knew and all those rituals that came with her pureblood status. Her letter was short deliberately; short letter did not reveal her true feelings. That would count as a weakness, she thought her parents as enemies right now and one did not show their true feelings to their enemies who could use them against her. With a sigh she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed and murmured a small, efficient Dark spell that set her letter at fire burning it rapidly with a emerald green flames. The ink of her words had not dried yet when she destroyed them.

Why had she even written that letter? It was no good and it just made her annoyed and grumpy. Sighing she changed into her pajamas, hoping that tomorrow would bring a happier day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the long delay. Life suddenly decided to throw all its crap at me simultaneously and I've had almost too much to do with university and now with my job. I may not have worked with the translation as actively I probably shoud have but not once have I forgot this project. However, the chapter three is finally here and I hope you enjoy it. As always, feel free to point out any misspellings and grammatical issues in the text. **

**3.**

Remus stared at scarlet curtains around his bed. He could not sleep after the Starting Feast and shocking revelations there and he was the only one awake in their dormitory in this late hour, thinking hard. Other boys slept soundly, snoring and Remus shifted uncomfortably, trying to block away the sound rumbling in his sensitive ears. His thought wandered time after time to Ariána and the shocking revelation of girl's Slytherin nature. He could not shake off the fact that the girl had been sorted into a House his fellow Marauders tended to think as enemies. Remus shook his head. This could not be happening, it just could not. These kind of situations should have been completely impossible but here he was, thinking about impossible coincidence trying to get rid of unpleasant thoughts that stormed in his head. Sighing, Remus shifted and turned to his other side and stared at the silent stone wall. He did not _want_ to believe that Ariána was a Slytherin, but he had to. He was a rational person and now all the proof he might have needed was spread wide in front of his disbelieving eyes. Ariána Cherry, a nice but a bit shy and introverted girl, had been sorted into Slytherin and there was absolutely nothing he or his fellow Gryffindors could have done to it. They just had to adapt.

Grunting silently Remus closed his eyes, hoping he could manage to get at least some sleep as he knew he will need it after a while. However, he had so many thoughts roaming in his head that falling asleep was a task he thought was completely impossible.

Remus started when something heavy settled on his bed. Green eyes were suddenly wide open for his surprise he found himself staring at James's grinning hazel eyes. Remus moaned. He was certainly not a morning person like Sirius or James and did not quite like being awaken so early when he was in the middle of a dream.

"James," Remus sighed, "I need my sleep."

James however did not move but smiled widely. "You have slept! Sirius and I are hungry and we're going to get breakfast."

"What do you need me for then?" Remus groaned. "You know how to go to the Great Hall for yourselves, don't you."

"But we want to go together. Peter's in the loo and Sirius's waiting downstairs. So, chop chop and for Merlin's sake, put some clothes on and get your ass moving." James peeked curiously at his friend from the corner of his eye. "Besides, I think McGonagall is giving time tables during the breakfast."

Remus cursed. Why his friends have to know how to use his eagerness for studying against him? He would have loved to stay up in the dormitories and sleep some more but apparently it was going to be impossible as his friends were impatient. He had not slept well as he had spent quite a time thinking about Ariána and the new problem they faced with the girl. The demanding look in James's eyes however told Remus to stop daydreaming and he would not have any more sleep before the next night, so Remus pushed matters aside and wriggled free of his red blanket. As soon as Remus's feet touched the cold stone floor of the dormitory he got his reward as James's face lit up with a bright smile and he patted Remus's head in an annoyingly fatherly fashion that somehow reminded Remus of Dumbledore's behaviour. James took off towards the staircase and left Remus alone. As soon as James was gone Remus moaned, stifled a yawn and his urge to fall back asleep.

Instead, Remus stood up and changed into his school robes and after a moment's hesitation grabbed the _Standard Book of Spells 7_ before dashing to the common room. He snorted as he noticed a sly smile that had crept on Sirius's face as soon as the fellow Marauder spotted his best friend. Sirius's grey gaze flowed over Remus and Sirius frowned as his gaze stopped when he spotted the book in Remus's arms.

"What do you need that for, Moony?" Sirius asked. Remus had to fight a snort that tried to escape from his lips.

"_That_, as you so cleverly described it, is a school book. It may be something totally unheard of to you but they tend to use school books for studying things while in school," Remus muttered, unable to stop himself. Look on Sirius's face was, however, something he would never forget.

For a while Sirius just stared at Remus, unable to utter a word but then he crossed his arms over his chest and started sulking. Remus sighed. He knew the gesture a bit too well.

"Sirius," he said, trying to make his friend feel better. Effort however, was futile. Sirius did not even give him a chance to explain.

"Sod off," Sirius just mumbled before turning and taking off from the portrait hole. Rest of the Marauders just exchanges a meaningful look and followed their upset friend.

During the breakfast Remus's keen eyes examined students in the Great Hall. His green eyes touched students like a wind, circled the teacher table and eventually came to rest on the Slytherin table uncertainly. He had no idea what he was up to when his eyes found one dark figure in the middle of black and green sea of students. Ariána seemed to be ignoring everyone around her, she just concentrated on the book she held on her lap while playing with her wand before tugging it safely back to her robe pocket. Remus sighed as he had to tear his gaze from Ariána's crouched form and forced his concentration on his breakfast. He even tried to follow the discussion between Sirius and James while trying to ignore a silent voice inside his head that tried to tell him it would have been better if Ariána could sit there with then, in the Gryffindor table. Remus had to force himself to chew on his food so he would not think how beautiful Ariána actually was in her distant, cold way.

Finally, professor McGonagall came and gave them their timetables and Remus smiled as his ears were filled by his friends' moaning.

"How can we have so many classes this year?" Sirius complained as he skimmed his timetable. "Do the teachers think we don't have any own life other that school?"

Remus had to fight not to say something rather sarcastic. James stared at his own timetable.

"Transfiguration, Charms, _Potions_ and some other irrelevant stuff after breakfast. This is gonna be one hell of a year."

Remus just smiled as he returned to his breakfast. With a delicate effectiveness he filled his plate with eggs and some toast before picking a spell book from his bag. He opened the very first chapter and started reading. He still half-mindedly followed the discussion between his friends and tried not to argue as they suggested pranks each one worse than the previous.

"Would it work if we used our animagus forms?" James suggested but Sirius shook his head.

"I don't want to give Regulus anything he could use against us – or against _me_."

"How about some simple transfiguration?"

"Too predictable and way too easy to reverse."

"Sirius, stop being so boring!"

"I'm not boring! I'm just being realistic!"

James actually snorted at that. "Nope, you're boring." He rolled his eyes. "Remus must have infected you, Sirius, you sound exactly like him."

Remus looked up. "I infect no one," he spat even though he knew perfectly well that they were not talking about his 'little furry problem' but because of his condition, the talk about infecting was very sensible issue for him.

Remus turned his gaze away again and ignorantly gazed around the Great Hall. Without any purpose or destination, his eyes wandered over happily chattering mass of students and over to Ariána, who finally met his eyes with a hard glare. With a shudder he quickly averted his eyes and stared at his eggs as if they were the most interesting thing he had so far seen. If only had he looked up from his breakfast he could easily have seen the sly smile that tugged the corners of Ariána's lips.

o

Ariána grinned as she returned her eyes to the book she was holding in her lap. She had taken her book with her despite her House mates' arguments as she had no interest in starting conversation with any of them. She had something better to do than converse and argue over simplest matters but her friends seemed to disagree with her. Ariána's friends complained silently when the girl turned a page and completely ignored their all attempts to start a conversation with her. Ariána however had always enjoyed her literature and the book she was reading now was one of the most interesting ones she had so far got to read.

"Ariána," silent voice murmured right next to her ear and she looked up, quite annoyed, and found herself staring into Bartemius's dark eyes.

"What?" her voice was cold as steel and completely void of any emotions. If Bartemius was surprised or shocked of the cold shoulder he received, it did not show as he only smirked.

"Transfiguration starts soon." Ariána nodded. Bartemius was not finished yet. "We have transfiguration with Gryffindors."

Ariána could hear the annoyance in her friend's voice. Bartemius was clearly not happy with the idea of having a class together with their rival House. Distaste for Gryffindors seemed to run deep in the Slytherin House – Ariána however had not been in Hogwarts long enough to have any kind of an opinion about Gryffindors. And she would never say anything to her Slytherin friends that could betray her knowing four Gryffindors already and actually liking them. She had of course heard quite prejudiced explanations about different Houses but she wanted to form her own opinions. She glanced at Bartemius and smiled before she nodded and packed her belongings and started to walk towards the doors.

Bartemius stood up and attempted to follow her but Ariána quickly shook her head.

"Do not bother, I think I can manage on my own, thank you." She almost sniggered at the dumbfounded look on Bartemius's face. Instead, she just gave him a sweet smile and said quietly: "See you at class." Then she made her way out of the Great Hall. She glanced behind her only once to make sure that Bartemius or no one else of her Slytherin friends followed her before slipping outside the doors and sitting down on the floor.

Ariána snorted bitterly as she thought how her parents had forced her to attend to Hogwarts to get to know other Wizarding children about her age. She wrapped her arms around her legs and tried to be as small as she possibly could. Right now she felt lonelier than she had ever felt before in her life. That was not a feeling she could say she liked, she hated how weak and lonely this school made her feel and a Dark witch never shows their weaknesses. She actually despised her parents for their decision to send their daughter away and swore she would pay them back some day.

"Is everything alright?" a friendly male voice asked and Ariána startled violently. Her primary instinct would have been to take out her wand and defend herself. She however looked up and gasped as she realized she was staring straight into green eyes and recognized the person who had interrupted her.

Remus.

She smirked and lifted her chin and stared at Remus proudly – like a Slytherin.

"Yes, I am fine. Although I do not see how that is your business." Her words were cold and rude and she could see how they affected Remus. Remus shivered and turned his gaze away from but not before Ariána could see the pain she had inflicted. She did not have an idea what she should have done. She did not want to hurt the only person she could actually call her true friend – no matter how furious she was with her parents.

"I need to go to the Transfiguration, if you would pardon me," Ariána snapped and stumbled to her feet before turning her back to Remus in order to get to McGonagall's classroom. She, however, had not managed to take a single step before feeling a hand resting on her arm.

"I have Transfiguration too, I'll walk with you."

She wanted to shiver under his touch and escape somewhere where no one could actually touch her. She did not like being touched, it felt like someone was intruding her privacy and she was quite attached to her privacy. A shy expression in Remus's eyes, however, stopped her and without a prior warning she found herself smiling kindly at Remus. She adjusted her stride to Remus's. Momentarily she actually wondered it would perhaps do no harm to open up a little and try to be friends with Remus as he seemed to be quite charming person. Their positions in different Houses still acted as a wall between them because their characters were so significantly different as most likely were their magical affinities.

o

Remus's thoughts were a mess. He had left the Great Hall as soon as he had noticed Ariána leaving. He had given his friends an excuse that he just wanted to ask the girl if she had enjoyed her time in Hogwarts and walk her to her class. However, he had not missed the meaningful glances Sirius and James exchanged behind his back. Remus tried to convince himself he had _no other_ feeling towards Ariána than an honest will to help, no matter how hard he had to work to make it seem true even for himself. He did actually expect that the Slytherin would not open up to him despite what he did. He did not, however, expect to be treated as coldly as he currently was.

The walk to the transfigurations class was mostly covered with deep silence. Both of them were silent, thinking and Remus decided to keep it that way – until they actually reached the class and he saw his friends at the door. Remus sighed.

"If there's anything you'd like to talk about, you can always come to me, you know," Remus said shyly and a smile tugged gently at the corner of his mouth. Ariána just turned to stare at him, rather annoyed.

"Why do you think I would want to talk with you?" Remus could hear a challenge in her words and he turned his gaze at his feet.

"Dunno," he had to admit and Ariána smirked.

"So I thought." She turned to look away as Sirius lifted his eyes and winked at her.

"If you would excuse me, I will try to find myself an empty seat."

Ariána turned her back at Remus, who was left dumbfounded staring after the girl, and stomped into the classroom. He blushed when his friends started to bombard him with questions.

"Was that – " James started but was interrupted by Sirius.

"Are you out of your mind, Moony?" Sirius stared at Remus with a bewildered look. "It's Slytherin!"

Remus moaned, "I know. And last time I checked she was someone _you_ tried to hit on."

"But that was before it became a Slytherin!"

"Sirius, don't be childish!" Remus snapped and squared his shoulders before entered the classroom in front of his friends.

The quartet found their seats on the other side of the classroom – as far away from Ariána as possible, Remus noticed – and immediately Sirius leaned at his hands and started to watch dreamingly at all female classmates around the classroom. Remus had to stifle a man. Sirius was impossible, and without doubt the worst womanizer in the entire school. Sometimes he actually wondered how the hell he managed to put up to with his friend year after another. The thought, however, was interrupted as Professor McGonagall entered the classroom and flicked her wand at the chalkboard. The change in the atmosphere in the classroom was immediate and quite impressive. Remus smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Once again, sorry for the long delay, I've been abroad and partially living with my partner and without a computer. Wheather has been horrible all this summer and only August was something that we could actually call a summer (if only remotedly). Normally temperature during summer here is something like from 15 to 25 or up to 30 degrees centigrade (or 15F to 77F or up to 86F) and it has rained all the time (except in August). Of course, bad wheather tend to lead to more writing as I don't like going outside in a rain but this summer I have just been so busy (and there was recently a very bad car crash in my city and I was close to the crash site and was quite shocked as the victim was a child. That fatal crash seemed to have taken most of my enthusiasm for writing away momentarily, I didn't know her, though, but it's always shocking when a child dies prematurely.). (I even went to a concert, for the third time in my entire life - which is kinda funny as I am 22). But enough of my babbling, the fourth chap is finally here and I hope you'll like it. I can't promise I'll update more regularly this autumn as this is going to be the year I'll write my thesis at uni - so I'll be extremely busy. But I can promise I'll be doing my very best with this one. And sorry about the partial-cliffie at the end - I just had to stop the chapter there ;) And sorry about the short chapter, they're going to be short for a while - I'm working on getting them longer but that'll happen in like chapter 12 or something (hopefully) and it's hard for me to estime the chapter lenghts as I'm translating this story and have no idea how the two languages relate to each others in chapter lenghts. But I'd like to provide longer chapters for you guys. And I would appreciate it if you could leave even the shortest of reviews as I have no idea if you like this story (and big thanks to those who have fav'd of otherwise alerted this story, I love you guys!)**

**4.**

"Sirius!"

Remus was furious. He was so angry to his friend he could actually feel the wolf awakening inside him. Remus hated his wolf, he loathed and hated the fact he was infected and that his condition affected his daily life in ways no one else could even imagine. Remus knew that his wolf reacted to his emotions and he knew that even now the wolf inside him made his eyes burn fiery amber instead of their original green as he yelled at his friend.

Sirius, however, did not seem to be upset over the fact that Remus was currently pouring his heart at him. He just played confidently with his wand and leaned at the wall. Remus was quite sure that Sirius did not hear a single word Remus said to him. That would not stop Remus to giving Sirius peace of his mind.

"I have no idea what you were thinking – apparently nothing – but how could you! How _could_ you!?" His voice broke. "The _first_ class of the term and you – " Remus closed his eyes, trying to control both his temper and his wolf. Neither worked so he opened his eyes again, the normal green in his eyes was still replaced by the golden fire of the wolf. "Why on earth did you need to get detention right in the beginning?"

Sirius was startled and he raised his gaze, trying to meet Remus's eyes as he heard the change in his friend's voice. Sirius did not know which one was worse; he could manage the rage, that was easier to understand as it was justified but he was shocked when he heard how tired Remus sounded. That was unexpected. Never before had Remus sounded tired as he scolded Sirius when he got several detentions during his school years. Although, Sirius had to admit that this time he might have gone a tad bit too far – however, he would never say that aloud.

"Sorry," Sirius mumbled as he casted his eyes down at his fingers which had stopped playing with his wand. Remus scoffed and the noise felt like a punch at your face. Sirius actually winced.

"Don't bother."

Remus turned his back at Sirius, knowing it might be foolish but right now he could not do anything else. He was far too furious to trust himself to behave around Sirius and his blasted idiocy. He had no strength to face his friend's ever-happy grey eyes while Remus's wolf was still too much in control and too near the surface. He hated it. Hated his wolf and the way it sent ripples of the purest power through his limbs making him feel like there was an electric current running just beneath his skin. He loathed as it made him feel so alive every time it surfaced. He hated being affected by something so unnatural and Dark. At these moments Remus hoped that Sirius would grow up and start to behave a bit more like an adult and take more responsibility. He knew Sirius was quite good at school, Sirius was intelligent and could do well whenever he so wanted and so evade at least some detentions. Remus scoffed. Sometimes he wondered how he put up with his friends' company for so long.

Remus shut his eyes tightly and gently rubbed his temples. He wanted to calm his feelings, force the wolf somewhere far from surface and deep inside him; where it belonged. Muttering to himself he walked away from his friends fighting for control. A sly smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he roamed the corridors of Hogwarts. He had to admit that being a werewolf also had its perks. Like now when he could walk with his eyes tightly closed and still know where he was going and avoiding hitting the walls. His senses were so high-tuned and sharp that he managed to draw quite a clear picture of his surroundings – even without his eyesight. Definitely a good side about being a lycanthrope.

A sigh escaped his lips as he opened his eyes and shook his head to banish even the last remnants of ill thoughts about today's Transfiguration disaster. With a significantly cooler head he was able to see he has actually overreacted and should possibly apologize, even though Sirius had deserved a good and thorough scolding when he managed to plant himself into a detention the very first possible opportunity. Remus could not understand how Sirius had managed to blow up the cauldron they were supposed to transfigure – but professor McGonagall had not been pleased, that much he could tell. Remus moaned and fought the urge to bang his head against the wall in despair. The wolf stirred inside him and silent growl managed to tear its way out of his throat. Remus could almost feel how the green in his eyes started to bleed into the fiery amber of the wolf.

_Damn, fucking bloody damn_, Remus swore as he rubbed the back of his head. It was not sore anymore from the stone Ariána Cherry had kicked to it – more likely his head was sore from thoughts of the incident at the station. A smile crept on his lips as he remembered the shock and utter look of disbelief on Ariána's face when the girl realized Remus had been hurt. He remembered his own bewilderment and the soaring pain in the back of his head. Even the look in Ariána's eyes was imprinted clearly in Remus's memory, astoundingly clear. Remus shook his head. He did not want to think about women, not about any women. He had something more urgent to do, like holding a grudge against Sirius although it was beginning to be an effort doomed to fail. He just was not that kind of person who held his grudges against people, he was more of a forgiving type – he might explode and say things he did not actually mean – but then he forgave and forgot.

However, Remus was torn away from his thoughts when he bumped into something – some_one_ – smaller than him. Blinking, he tried to refocus at the sight in front of him.

"Could you look where you are _fucking_ going?" an annoyed voice exclaimed and Remus shook his head like a dog who tried to get rid of water in his fur. "Remus?"

Remus recognized the talker when she called his name. He suppressed a moan that had almost escaped his lips and shut his eyes tight. He shook his head, he could not believe his luck. Why in earth must he run into the last person in Hogwarts he wanted to meet in this particular moment?

"Are you alright?" Ariána asked gently and that made Remus blush deeply. He had never before heard the girl speak so gently, so softly. So far there had always been a dash of ice in her voice and to hear it so completely gone Ariána sounded like a completely new person. Remus furrowed his brow and once again the wolf inside him tried to resurface.

"Mmmhh?" Remus mumbled questioningly, refusing to look at the girl beside him. Deep inside Remus knew it was him who acted childishly right now.

"Remus?" Ariána said again. This time ice was present in her voice and that made Remus even more determined to push the wolf way from the surface. He just could not afford letting anyone else beside his friends to know the truth about him, about his lycanthropy – and eventually his determination made the wolf growl in anticipation and curl up at its usual position around his heart. Remus still knew that the creature was keeping an eye on him.

"'M fine," Remus muttered as he finally met Ariána's gaze. The girl stood on his side, arms crossed and the usual iron gone from her eyes. With a start Remus realized this was nowhere near the person he had first met, that Ariána had hit him – unintentionally – with a stone and then locked everyone else out. Now Ariána's eyes were warm and kind and a cautious but friendly smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Normally people who are 'fine' do not bump into random passer-bys," Ariána smirked. Remus could barely stifle a moan.

"I – " Remus licked his lips nervously. The words seemed to become stuck into his throat. New try. "I was absentminded."

Ariána smiled. Now Remus noticed that she was holding a pile of books in her arms. Apparently, she had managed to visit the library as soon as the Transfiguration class had ended as Remus had concentrated on yelling at his friend. Ariána quirked a questioning eyebrow and that stubborn smile was still on her face in a way that surprisingly reminded Remus of the smile he normally saw on Sirius's face.

"Something you could share?"

Remus snorted. "Just a quarrel with a friend." Ariána quirked her eyebrow again.

"That exploding cauldron of Sirius?"

"More likely the detention that followed."

Ariána's smile faded and a dark look entered her eyes. "Oh," she muttered and pushed her hair out of her face.

Remus felt grateful Ariána did not ask him anything else as he just wanted to forget the unfortunate incident at the class and the quarrel that followed. Instead, he gave the pile of books in her arms a long look as their titles gave him no indication books were related to Transfiguration by any means. Remus lifted his gaze and met Ariána's grey gaze and now it was his turn to quirk an eyebrow. She just smiled and turned the books so that Remus could no longer read their titles. Still, he had seen enough to realize the books probably talked about Dark curses. What he could not understand was why Ariána would need such books.

It seemed that Ariána noticed that as she shifted nervously and sighed as she put the books into her bag. "They are for Defence, I wanted to do some extracurricular research about a subject that will be covered during the first class."

Remus snorted, somehow he found it hard to believe the girl had told him the truth. He thought it was highly unlikely they would cover anything that had anything to do with Dark curses as strong as those the books spoke of. Remus did not want to believe that Ariána had anything to do with Dark magic outside the school. She just did not seem to be anything like those who eagerly dabbled with powers so many others would refuse to even discuss.

Ariána seemed to notice Remus's suspicion as she smirked and changed the subject.

"What do you have next?"

Remus smiled but he have not forgotten her books. "Charms, you?"

"Herbology, it is Slytherin-Ravenclaw class."

Remus was about to answer to her but new set of steps from their left interrupted him before he managed to utter a word. He turned to face the person who came with the steps and grimaced as he saw a tall Slytherin boy turning from a corner and stopping in front of them. The other boy's face held an identical look of disgust as he looked Remus up. Ariána moaned and turned to look the new boy sternly.

"Bartemius," she snapped. The boy just stared at her but the expression on his face did not change and he most certainly did not apologize. Ariána scoffed.

"Drop it, I have a discussion going on. You can stomp off to Herbology by yourself instead of waiting here and jeopardizing my social interactions with others."

Bartemius just shrugged and gave Remus one last disgusted look. That look made Remus shudder as an uncomfortable feeling crawled under his skin.

"Whatever," Bartemius mumble before turning his back at them.

Remus could not help a smug smile that crept on his lips. He had thought for years that Bartemius Crouch was a despicable and creepy personality and thereby he was only happy to see him gone. He could see that Ariána was also smiling smugly.

"That was some odd fellow," she murmured and Remus grinned.

"At last we can agree on something."

Ariána did not answer but awarded Remus with a smile and he felt he had done something right this time. He, however, could not help to notice the closed-off look he remembered so well had once again returned to her eyes. He hated that look as it was the only thing he knew about her. Seldom had he seen the openness and pure friendliness in her eyes as he had seen only moments ago. Remus decided to take a risk.

"Something going on with you and Crouch?"

Immediately he knew he had made a mistake. Ariána's gaze froze and she shot a fiery glance at Remus. He swallowed hard.

"That is none of your fucking business," she growled. "Pry once more and I promise I will curse you."

Remus lifted his arms in a submissive gesture although the gesture and the fire in her eyes had made the wolf stir inside him. The wolf stomped an angry circle around his heart and round by round he lost himself more to the wolf. The wolf fire flashed in his eyes as he glanced the girl.

"I just wanted to be of help, to thank you from being willing to help me."

"Fuck the helping, I was just being polite," Ariána spat and started marching towards the Entrance Hall.

Remus caught the girl with few elegant strides and pushed her against the wall. He knew he was dangerously close to losing control and his eyes blazing with amber but right now he was not interested. He just leaned closer and – before he could get himself into control he pressed his lips onto Ariána's.

The girl grunted but responded to the angry kiss before turning her head and murmuring something under her breath. Remus flinched away immediately as some curse unfamiliar to him made his palms sting painfully. Ariána used the moment to escape from the scene her chin proudly up into the air and left Remus behind to stare incredulously at his palms. he turned his eyes away only when he heard steps from behind him. Sirius walked next to his friend and put an arm at his shoulder.

"Remus, mate, you should've told me there was snogging going on here. I would've jump in!"

Remus just moaned and shook his head. What had he done?


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiii, this time I managed to translate a new chapter a lot faster than before and therefore I have a new chapter to publish now. I will be having quite a busy year this year (writin' a thesis, bleargh, not happy 'bout tha') but I'll try to work with this story as much as I can. But, not gonna babble this time, just saying that hopefully you guys enjoy this new chapter. (And it honestly sucks to be back at uni. I like studying but the whole thesis thing, I hate it, I'd rather be writing fanfiction and studying something far more interesting.) And huge thanks for those of ya who had fav'd and followed this piece of work :3 I really appreciate it!**

**5.**

Remus was in a bad mood. He knew he was probably behaving quite childishly as he turned his back to his friends who had never done anything to betray his trust. Still, he could not help being grumpy and annoyed. He also never answered to his friends' inquiries about the origins of his foul mood. Only Sirius's amused and even a bit offended smile told him that Sirius at least believed that he knew a reason why Remus had his wand twisted in a circle. In no time Sirius's smile had become contagious and James had started smiling and eventually even Peter smiled – and then all other Marauders grinned at Remus every time he was in their close vicinity. Remus could have managed to ignore that but not when they started to make jokes about what had happened to him. As time passed, Remus's foul mood got even worse.

After a while Sirius's patience wore thin. He forced Remus against the wall when they were walking towards the Defence classroom at a rainy day. Remus squared his shoulders and attempted to look as small as possible. Sirius just shook his head.

Remus, this is beginning to be ridiculous."

It took Remus a huge amount of self-restraint not to shout at his friend. He did not want to be mad at them but most of the time they made it difficult with their own behavior. At times Remus was certain his friends could do nothing else than annoy those who were unlucky enough to be close to them.

Sirius uttered a melodramatic sigh when Remus gave him no answer.

"Remus."

Remus still gave him no response, just turned his back at Sirius and walked away. Sirius could not help but stare after his friend. He had never seen Remus behaving like this before. Something had clearly happened.

"James," the young man muttered. "Is it just me or does he seem different to you too?"

James lifted his messy head and his chestnut brown eyes left his Transfiguration homework for a while and he pushed his glasses into better position on his nose. His eyes held a hesitant expression that was not often found on his face.

"Dunno. Something has gotten his wand into a knot, that much is certain."

"I think Remus is more irritable than before," Peter murmured and his round face became flushed. "He hadn't been himself for a while now which is strange."

Sirius pouted and tapped a sofa table with his wand. James returned to his homework.

"Maybe that is the problem!" Sirius exclaimed with a sly smile.

"What, Sirius, what?" Peter sounded enthusiastic. His expressive face was lit with enthusiasm. Sirius smiled gently.

"What is different about Remus this year?"

Peter frowned but James looked at Sirius with an expression that told they were thinking along the same lines. They both smiled and their eyes shone like they usually did when they had a prank of their life to plan.

"Remus has a girlfriend," they said at the same time and bursted into laughter. Peter however, was even more confused than before.

Peter tried to return to his homework but the endless chatter of his friends made in nearly impossible. Finally he just slammed the _Advanced Tranfiguration: Use of Humans in Transfiguration_ shut maybe harder than would have been necessary. Sirius did not react to his friend's annoyance other than glancing wuickly at Peter and grinning in his own arrogant way that normally made many women – and some men – infatuated with him.

"Oh, grow up you two," Peter grunted before disappearing into the stairs leading to the dormitories. Sirius just grinned.

James look at his best friend expectantly. "What are you gonna do?"

Sirius did not need clues to figure out _what_ his friend meant. He shrugged. "Dunno. Remus probably wouldn't want us to do anything." Sirius hesitated.

"Are you going to let a situation like this pass only because Remus _might_ not like something?" James sounded stunned, although a slight tremor in his voice revealed that he reluctantly agreed with Sirius.

James's gaze wandered across the Common Room where young woman with flaming red hair talked to her friends and once in a while a laughter rang in the air. Sirius smiled sadly as he saw the lost look in his friend's brown eyes.

"You should go speak to her," Sirius suggested. James gave him a starled look.

"You know better than anyone how that would end!"

"She can't hate you forever", Sirius said surprisingly diplomaticly. James could not help the smile that tried to reach his lips.

"Bah, speaking to Lily would probably be a bad idea. You know better than most how she is when I'm around. Besides, you know as well as I do that she's still with _Snivellus_."

Despite the supposedly calm tone, James's words had a bitter edge, which told he was still smitten for the pretty red-headed Gryffindor who still decided to ignore him. Sirius would have done anything in order to get his friend together with Lily, but he knew from experience there were certain things that should not be forced. If Lily was the One for James (as Sirius believed she was), they would find each other even without help. Sirius rubbed his temples. If anyone was to find out he was such a romantic, his reputation would be forever ruined. _Damn it._

Sirius pinched his eyes closed and with a melodramatic air tried to get his quill. James just smiled as he watched his friend.

"Mr Prongs," Sirius said in a serious tone. "Mr Padfood hereby suggest we plan for pranks." He peeked through his eyelids and gave his friend a pleading look. James grinned, amused.

"Pleaaase, James, we have to do something before _I_ do something I'll regret forever – before I ruin my reputation so perfectly not even the most indigenous prank can restore it."

Smiling, the two friend spent rest of the evening planning – even though James kept sending longing looks across the Common Room to where Lily Evans sat. With a sigh James let his eyes rest on Lily's hair which shone when sun touched her flaming red hair as she laughed.

o

"Have you thought about trying out for Slytherin?" Lucinda asked with a lowered voice. Rina grunted but did not turn her eyes away from the book she had in her lap. The text in book's cover stated quite pompously _Dark curses: Power or Fright?_

Lucinda gave a mighty sigh for the silence she got as an answer.

"You know, you cannot just turn your back to us and assume we are going to leave you be!"

Ariána glared at her friend but did not say a word. Lucinda rolled her eyes. "We are your friends after all. It might not mean anything to you but we," the dark girl pointed at herself and three other Slytherins beside her, "do care. We do not want to become abandoned when we could possible help."

Ariána lifted her eyes and sighed. "I appreciate your concern – _I really do!_ – but this time there is nothing you can do. I just am in a foul mood right now, that is all."

"You have been _just in a foul mood_ for a month now," Severus interrupted her and earned quite a poisonous glare from Ariána. It did not make him back away, though, instead it seemed to make him even more convinced.

"If you don't want to quit being grumpy, will you at least come to eat with us?" Regulus asked as he got an agreeing nod from Bartemius. Ariána realized she could not continue to be irritated for long anymore.

A shy smile crept on her lips as she pushed her black hair behind her ear and closed the heavy tome. For the first time in a while she met her friends' eyes and blushed in a very unCherry-like fashion.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you for not abandoning me."

Lucinda smiled and helped her up. "That's what friends are for. Right, give me that book and let's get you ready for dinner. After that we can do something nice before the classes start."

The mention of classes made Ariána close off slightly. They would have Potions next – with Gryffindors – and right now she would have given anything for not having to continue avoiding the Gryffindors. Especially she wanted to avoid certain four of them and she knew that she would have to face them in the Potions under the smiling eyes of professor Slughorn, if not even before that in the Great Hall. Severus however, seemed to notice her reaction because he moved to stand right next to her almost slyly.

"What's the bother?" he asked in a whisper. The look in Severus's onyx eyes told Ariána to quit lying and tell the truth. Rina sighed. She honestly did not have any choices.

"I have been trying to avoid certain four Gryffindors."

The understanding made his eyes darken.

"Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew and Black. Should've known." Severus gave Ariána a stunned look. "What have they done to you this time?"

Rina shrugged. "Nothing special. Or, more likely, they did it for themselves."

"Excuse me?" Severus was now confused. He had no idea of what the girl was talking about. Rina sighed and began the explanation.

"The first day, on Transfiguration, Black managed to fail and earned a detention. Lupin did not like it and apparently decided to throw a spectacle of his own on the corridor. He was yelling," she explained when she saw the expressionless faces of the others. He had not noticed anyone else than Severus listening but that hardly mattered now. "I was in the library getting that book I just tried to read. Lupin bumped right into me and almost poured his heart out to me." That was not actually true but being as irritated as she currently was, she hardly cared.

Severus frowned. "I don't see how this would put you into this condition."

"I was not bothered by the way Lupin poured his heart to me. I was more bothered because of what happened after that."

The Slytherins gathered all around her leaned in as their eyes shone with curiosity.

"What happened then?"

Ariána sighed.

"He kissed me."

Their shock was immediate.

"_HE DID WHAT!?"_


End file.
